The Troubles
The Troubles was a thirty-year era of violence in Northern Ireland between Catholic Irish republicans - advocates of a united Ireland - and Protestant Ulster Scots unionists, those who favored remaining in the United Kingdom, which lasted from around 1968 to 1998. The conflict was essentially a continuation of the conflict between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the United Kingdom that had started with the Easter Rising of 1916, and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) was formed in 1969 with the goal of using force to reunite Ireland, continuing the IRA's republican insurgency. After the "Bloody Sunday" massacre of 30 January 1972, the insugency intensified, and the IRA perpetrated several terrorist attacks against unionists and British Army soldiers sent to quell the unrest in Northern Ireland. The unionist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) carried out revenge attacks against Catholics, leading to sectarian conflict. The Troubles would see clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, bombing campaigns on mainland Britain, and urban and rural guerrilla warfare against the British Army by the IRA until 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement was agreed upon. The Northern Ireland Assembly formed a parliament at Stormont to rule Northern Ireland as the republican Sinn Fein party was allowed to share power with the unionist parties, although it would not be until 28 July 2005 that the IRA announced that it would cease its armed campaign. Background England's role in Ireland ]]The establishment of modern Northern Ireland dates back to the English Civil War in the 1640s, during which the English Parliamentarian leader Oliver Cromwell invaded and conquered the whole of Ireland. English and Scottish Protestants were allowed to colonize the island, and the independent parliament that had been established in 1782 under Great Britain was abolished in 1798 after an Irish rebellion. In 1801, Ireland, England, and Scotland were united as the United Kingdom, and Ireland would remain a part of Britain for 120 more years. British rule was abusive, with the Irish people being neglected during the Great Famine in the 1840s; this caused many Irish people to flee to other countries, or join the republican struggle against the British. Irish uprisings ]]There would be various Irish uprisings in both Ireland and Canada in the 19th century, but the most famous uprising would be the April 1916 Easter Rising, in which militant Irish Republicans issued the "Proclamation of the Republic" in Dublin and declared Ireland's independence. After six days, the British had restored their rule to Ireland and put down the uprising, executing its leaders. Irish republicans were inspired by this awakening of nationalist sentiment, and from 21 January 1919 to 11 July 1921 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought a guerrilla war against the British Army. The IRA, led by Eamon De Valera, Michael Collins, and other republicans, emerged victorious. Collins negotiated a treaty with the British that stated that Ireland would be self-governing but kept within the British Empire, with six counties in Ulster remaining part of the UK while the rest of the country became the "Irish Free State" in 1922. A year of civil war followed as the pro-treaty Irish National Army and British Army fought the anti-treaty IRA, and both Collins and the IRA leader Liam Lynch were killed during the conflict. Sectarian conflict After the civil war, the governments of both Ireland and the United Kingdom were fearful of Irish nationalists. In British-controlled Northern Ireland, the Protestant unionists were given preferential treatment in housing and employment, and the Irish Catholic nationalists were treated poorly. Brief campaigns by the IRA during the 1920s failed to disrupt the stability of Northern Ireland, but Unionists formed the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in 1966 with the goal of quelling the Republican threat. The Troubles In September 1968, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) announced that a civil rights march was to be held in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland on 5 October 1968 to demand an end to discrimination against the Catholic Irish population. The Apprentice Fobys of Derry, a Protestant organization, also took part in the march in solidarity with the civil rights cause. However, the British government barred the NICRA from marching, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary was sent in with nightsticks to charge the marchers. The violence shocked many around the world, and Northern Irish students formed the radical socialist People's Democracy party, drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr.. 40 members of the PD marched from Belfast to Derry on 1 January 1969 to highlight social injustices in Northern Ireland, but unionists attacked the marchers with iron bars and stones. The Official IRA and Provisional IRA split as a result of this attack, and the PIRA was determined to use force to reunite Ireland and attack British rule with arms. Bloody Sunday The PIRA was involved in civilian demonstrations and riots against the British, so the unionist Ulster Volunteer Force decided to use violence to "protect the Protestant community" from the Catholic PIRA. The British government launched Operation Demetrius on 9 August 1971, allowing for the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary to arrest and imprison suspected terrorists. On 30 January 1972, NICRA decided to hold a march in the city of Derry to protest against the new internment policy, and 20,000 people took part in the march. Most moved to the "Free Derry Corner" after the British Army refused to allow them to enter the city, and some young men threw stones at soldiers. Army soldiers moved into arrest them, initially using rubber bullets. However, rumors of an IRA sniper being present in the crowd led to the British using live rounds against the protesters, and 13 men were killed and 14 injured in the ensuing 30-minute massacre. The massacre, known as "Bloody Sunday", rallied suport for the IRA. Armed campaign ]]In Ireland, Bloody Sunday led to disaffected young people increasing their support to the IRA. In March 1972, UK Prime Minister Edward Heath decided to suspend the Northern Ireland Parliament, which had been formed in 1920 in Stormont, Belfast. Heath imposed direct rule from London and established the Northern Ireland Office to govern the province, and fresh rioting began as the IRA stepped up its armed campaign. The direct rule by Britain over Ireland led to Irish republicans retaliating on British soil, and 22 February 1972 saw the first terrorist attack on British soil, the 1972 Aldershot bombing. Seven civilian staff were killed and eighteen wouned. On 5 October 1974, the IRA planted bombs in two pubs in the town of Guildford, popular with army personnel, killing 5 and wounding 65. On 21 November 1974, the IRA bombed two more pubs in central Birmingham, killing 21 and injuring 182. The British introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, allowing suspects to be held without charge for up to seven days. Most suspects were sent to the Maze prison at Long Kesh in County Antrim, and the republican prisoners began a bitter struggle for status as political prisoners and not terrorists. In 1981, ten inmates died of starvation in the prison hospital after taking part in a hunger strike. Support for Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing, soared as a result of the hunger strike. London decided to make peace overtures to the republicans, hoping to find a solution to the crisis. Aftermath ]]The Irish Republican Army formed small groups in mainland Britain in the 1980s, targeting politicians and financial and shopping districts with their terrorist attacks. These acts were designed to put political and economic pressure on the British government; UK Conservative Party MP Airey Neave was assassinated in 1979 in an infamous IRA attack. Britain would be terrorized for the rest of the 1980s, and the UVF would consistently carry out attacks against the Irish. However, changes in the leadership in Britain, Dublin, and in Ulster Unionism led to the 1998 "Good Friday Agreement", in which the IRA recognized Northern Ireland's right to exist, while the UK acknowledged the nationalist desire for a united Ireland. Voters elected a new Northern Ireland Assemby in Stormont to represent the people of Northern Ireland, but it was suspended when the IRA was slow to decommission its weapons. On 15 August 1998, 29 people were killed by an IRA bomb in County Tyrone. On 28 July 2005, the IRA ceased its armed campaign, while dissident republicans who rejected the peace settlement continued attacks at a lower level. In March 2007, the Sinn Fein's leadership and the Ulster Unionists agreed to share power at Stormont, and the assembly was restored on 8 May 2007 under the power sharing deal. Category:Wars Category:Eras